Annually, major research investments focused on understanding and solving environmental problems occur. Yet, the extent to which that research actually informs environmental policy and practice is unclear as a result of the “knowledge-action gap”. In 2019, our team received funding from NSERC, Carleton University, and Environment and Climate Change Canada to understand the factors that contribute to generating new knowledge that will be used by environmental managers and practitioners thus ensuring that environmental applied research investments are impactful and deliver on their promise to benefit Canada and Canadians.
To do this, we used semi-structured interviews to elicit the perspectives of individuals with extensive experience in both providing and receiving public or private funds for environmental research. We investigated views on which aspects of a research team (e.g., composition, diversity, expertise) and research process (e.g., methodology, timeline, extent of co- production) are associated with generating new knowledge that informs policy and practice. In addition, we hosted a workshop at Carleton University with a diverse team of knowledge generators and knowledge users in Canada who routinely engage in or use applied environmental research so that those who have already had some success in this realm might share insights that could help guide others.
See below for outputs of this project:
Supporting actionable science for environmental policy: advice from researchers and decision makers to Canadian funding agenciesDownload
Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation 